When ‘349’ became the number of deaths, Pepsi campaign shook the Philippines, 5 lives lost

New Delhi. In the 1990s, there was a fierce ‘Cola War’ going on in the Philippines between Pepsi and Coca-Cola. To get ahead in this race, Pepsi had started a scheme – Number Fever. In this scheme, there was a number on the lid of every bottle. If that number matched the number announced on TV, then the winner would get 10 lakh pesos (about Rs 54 lakh).

This became a ray of hope for millions of Filipinos suffering from poverty. People started searching for the numbers by buying bottles. Within no time the entire country was engulfed in this ‘number fever’. But one evening in May 1992 everything changed. The winning number announced on TV was 349. Thousands of people got the same number. People jumped with joy and started celebrating. But it soon turned out that this was a terrible mistake.

349 accidentally printed on more than 6 lakh bottle caps
In reality, number 349 was never supposed to be the winner. This number was accidentally printed on more than 6 lakh bottle caps. When people turned up to Pepsi’s offices to collect their prizes, the company apologized and offered only 500 pesos (about Rs 1,800). Due to this people got angry. Riots broke out, Pepsi trucks were attacked and at least 5 people died.

Legal battle that lasted for decades
Vicente del Fierro, a local preacher, brought together 349 cap holders and filed a $400 million lawsuit against the company. The legal battle lasted for two decades, but Fierro died in 2010. Pepsi later apologized and said that it had given about $10 million in goodwill payments, but by then the loss had already been incurred. Pepsi’s reputation fell and Coca-Cola again took over the market. Even today, many people in the Philippines remember that accident and say – that number brought destruction, not victory.